Craft beer apps are a tough market — one that’s dominated by a select few established brands such as Untappd and Taphunter.

A few years back we read an article about a local San Diego team that was developing a smartphone application of their own, Growing Bitter. We had reached out for a beta of the iOS version, but unfortunately at the time it was only available for the Android platform. With the recent launch of their iOS version, we installed a copy to test out.

Growing Bitter helps to connect beer drinkers with San Diego craft breweries, bars, and retailers in your area, as described by the developer:

Finding the newest brewery and the best local beer deals shouldn’t be that hard. For some reason it was, and I either wasted time hunting for which store sold which beer or going to my usual places time after time.
This simple problem inspired me and the team to create an App that enabled breweries (and their awesome beer) to be easily found, and retailers (those who sell craft beer) to post their deals, limited editions, happy hours and tap menus.

At this time, the app is only available for the San Diego and Central Coast areas of California.

Installation and Setup

As iOS users, installation was done through the App Store. Once complete, the app opened up to a quick progression of guided, tutorial-like screens. There wasn’t an overload of information to swipe through, and Growing Bitter let us get right down to business.

There was a splash screen, explaining that Growing Bitter was “Your source for craft beer deals and events”, and after that a demo of the home screen.

Lastly, a ZIP code was entered, allowing the app to serve content by geolocation, which is the whole impetus behind the app. Your primary ZIP provides you with regional events throughout San Diego, and localized deals such as packaged beer, or cheap growler fills at Karl Strauss on Fridays.

Features and Ease of Use

This craft beer app was as easy to use as a bottle, opener, and glass. Just open it up, and you’re all set.

The upper third of the home screen is dedicated to featured breweries and/or beers. We aren’t sure where the Growing Bitter data comes from, but the remainder of the home tab serves up a scrollable list of special offers in your area.

That includes packaged sale items in brick and mortar stores, as well as results for beer events at breweries near you. The day we installed the app, it showed there was a Pure Project special release can sale, so Growing Bitter must be in the know!

The featured items have the info “i” icon to click for more, including brewery and beer descriptions. The more advanced tools for this app can be found within the individual listings lower on the screen. There are function buttons for:

View all event / item information

Drop a pin to map location

Default iOS sharing menu

Save for later

As soon as you press for the Map icon in the main tab menu, you can allow the iPhone to use your geolocation to pull up proximity results which are all identified by icons. You can then sort by breweries, retail stores, pubs/bars, homebrew shops and events.

Overall Thoughts

Growing Bitter is a useful tool in helping any San Diego craft beer lover to #DrinkLocal.

When it comes to craft beer plans, we tend to know in advance where we’re going to be, but it never hurts to find some hidden deals, right? In a not so familiar area of town, the mapping feature also highlights anything worth checking out nearby to aid in your discovery, and help find something new.

The success of this app lies in the involvement of those supplying the data to the developers. So we are hoping as many local brands as possible get involved, offering more event, sales, and promotional information to benefit the whole San Diego craft beer community.